Another Way to Look at It
by Cehsja
Summary: Short One Shot, AU, Season 1. Connor overhears some of his coworkers trash talking Abby and steps in to defend her.


**Wrote this one a year and a half ago and that's how long it took me to come up with a title to post it, LOL. **

"So that Abby girl sure has a thing for you, eh?"

Connor froze in his tracks, his head whipping around to see who was involved in this conversation. He had just entered the ARC staff room and the voice was coming from behind him, someone about to enter just after he did. It was one of the soldiers, a man named Theodore James, and the comment was directed at Stephen. Neither of the men had seen him so he quickly moved to the other side of a locker, knowing he shouldn't eavesdrop but fully intending to hear the rest of this.

"Says she doesn't," came Stephen's reply, "Said she fancied me for a bit but now she doesn't."

"I don't believe that for an instant," Theodore retorted.

"Me neither," Stephen chuckled. "But I'm not going to encourage her."

"No, don't think I would either. She'd be okay for a quick shag though, can't deny she's hot."

"Too much baggage," Stephen answered. "I don't think she's a one-night stand kinda gal. She'd probably agree to it and then there'd be so many strings attached you'd never get untangled. No, if you want Abby it's gotta be a full-on relationship because she just gets too attached. Too needy that one, too emotional. Besides, she's not exactly all that feminine, is she? Good for a fight but not much else."

"Not to mention temperamental and bossy," Theodore agreed. "I don't know how that Connor kid can stand living with her. You're right though, except who'd want a full-on relationship with that hot mess?"

That Connor kid was still hiding behind the locker, half fuming and knowing he needed to jump in and defend her, half frozen in shock at the idea that someone would _not _want to date Abby. Abby was… well _amazing. _And sure she had a few issues but she'd been through a lot in her childhood. He knew; he'd read her file. She just needed some support to work through them. As for temperamental and bossy, well that was just because she cared, a lot, and that was a good thing, right?

"Oh, he likes her," Stephen replied, "And he can have her as far as I'm concerned. She's lucky he's interested because I can't imagine anyone _else _wanting to date her. Still, she's a bit daft I think because she doesn't seem to realise it and I imagine even Connor's gonna want to move on at some point."

That was it, the angry side won out and Connor jumped out from his hiding spot, not caring that there was _no _way he could ever fight the two of them on his own. His fist found Stephen's jaw before they had time to react. Both men jumped back in surprise and to their benefit they did look a bit ashamed.

Connor was too furious to speak as he immediately went to go after Theodore too but found himself being held back by Stephen.

"Mate, _stop!" _Stephen ordered, and Connor had to but he struggled. He just wasn't as strong as them and they were both holding onto him now. He wondered if they were going to punch his lights out.

They didn't though, and Connor knew that it was because they felt they had the unfair advantage. They did, but he didn't like that they knew it.

"We were just _talking _mate. It's not like we're going to say this stuff to Abby. No one was meant to hear it, okay?"

"Yeah well I did, didn't I?" Connor shouted, still struggling. "And you lot got no right to be talking badly 'bout Abs."

They let go of him and Connor instinctively went to attack again this time launching himself at Theodore.

But it was Connor, rather than Theodore, that ended up with a punch to the jaw this time as Theodore defended himself. Connor found himself on the floor in pain as the two men looked at him.

"Sorry," Theodore apologized, "But we did tell you to leave it alone, Connor."

Then Theodore and Stephen left the room, left him lying there in miserable agony and he wasn't sure what hurt more: his jaw, or the fact that he hadn't successfully managed to defend Abby.

But both were forgotten with the sudden onset of another pain, a more intense pain. Because from his angle on the floor he suddenly saw that he hadn't been the _only _one hidden in the room. The reflection in the mirror suddenly alerting him to the petite blonde hidden under the counter with the kitchen sink. His heart sank. _Abby._

She wasn't looking at him, but there was no doubt she'd heard the entire thing. She was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest, her face buried in her arms.

Connor sighed, laying back on the ground where he hadn't really gotten up yet, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't sure what to do now. Abby probably wouldn't want him to know she was there. He could leave now, give her time to compose herself and forget about it. But on the other hand, he couldn't just leave her like that. She may not want him to know she heard it, but she needed to talk about it. He couldn't just let her bottle it up inside even if she would want to. He got up stiffly and moved to her side, plonking himself down on the floor beside her.

She didn't look up at him, but Connor was sure she'd have heard him approach. "You alright?" he asked softly. It was a stupid question.

Abby nodded, still not looking up, and they sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally she whispered, "I'm sorry, Connor."

"_You're _sorry?! For what?" the confusion was evident in his voice.

"Well, I guess it's my fault you got hurt, innit?" She finally looked up at him and gently touched his swollen jaw. "You were defending _me_."

Connor's reply stuck deep in his throat as he caught his breath. Abby's eyes were red and her cheeks tear-stained, she wasn't trying to hide the fact that she had been crying, but it was the tenderness in her gaze that really caught him off guard. He'd only ever seen her look at Rex that way before.

He coughed to clear his throat before and shook his head. "No, no Abby. I mean, yes I was defending you but it wasn't your fault. Of course it wasn't. It was those idiots. They shouldn't have been talking like that."

Abby shrugged looking down again, "Why not, Con? Leastways now I know what they think. Not like it's not true."

"It wasn't _true _at all, Abby!" he protested.

Abby scoffed at that, "It was though, Connor. It was hard to hear but it was true."

Connor hesitated, thinking back about the words that had been spoken before a soft smile finally spread across his face. "Well, they said you were hot. I'll give them that one."

"Well, thanks, Connor," a hint of sarcasm tainted her reply, but Connor knew his words were having the desired effect.

"And they said that you should be in a proper relationship 'cuz you weren't cut out for a one-night stand, and, and, well that's not even a _bad _thing, Abby."

"Well that's true," Abby was starting to smile a bit, "I'm starting to think maybe we've overreacted, Con."

Connor couldn't contain his grin, mainly because Abby looked happy again, but it didn't last long as her expression changed back to serious and she continued. "There's things they said that weren't so nice that were true too. Things I need to work on, like the bossy temperamental thing."

"Only I don't much mind that Abby. I know you just boss me 'round cuz you care a lot about your house being clean, and you lose your temper but it's always just cuz someone is gonna harm someone or something you care about. I think really they should have said you were passionate. That's a better word."

"You think?"

"I do, Abby."

"They said I have a lot of baggage."

"Yeah well, people who have baggage are usually going places aren't they?"

Abby rolled her eyes at him because he always had an answer for everything, but she didn't say anything and Connor continued.

"Besides, Abs, that's not your fault and it's all in the past. All that stuff you carry around with you, well that just makes you stronger. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"They said I wasn't feminine enough."

Connor scoffed, "Well you _can _be. They only ever see you at work, chasing dinosaurs, what the hell did they expect? A mini-skirt and heels? Those two are daft if they think that'd be appropriate, yeah? That part was definitely _not _true."

"They said _I _was daft."

This time Connor laughed outright, "Abby, they said you were _daft because you don't realise that I like you._ That's their exact words, do you know I like you?"

She was smiling again as she nodded, "Yeah, I guess I do. Anyways, you'd better like me and I can't think why you'd be sitting here trying to cheer me up if you didn't."

"Exactly, and seeing as how you let me live with you, I'm rather thinking you like me too, so we'll go with the fact that neither one of us is daft, okay? So you see Abs, them two is idiots. Everything they said was either not true or true-but-good."

Abby slipped her hand into his and rested her head on his shoulder, "Thanks, Connor, for everything. I don't know how you always see the best in me when nobody, not even I can, but you always make me feel better. I'm sorry that you got hurt for me, but I'm kinda grateful you overheard that stuff too just so you could calm _me _down."

"Abs," Connor whispered, reaching to stroke her hair. Her words had really touched him, she wasn't usually so soft spoken to him, rarely showed her true emotions, thoughts or feelings. "Abs, I'm glad I heard it too, for your sake, but if I hadn't, or if other stuff upsets you and I don't know about it, you should come tell me. Really, Abs, anything, anytime. I _want _to be here for you, k?"

Abby blushed in guilt, because she knew darn well that if Connor hadn't overheard she _wouldn't _have told him what had happened. There's no way she would have, the thought wouldn't have even_ occurred_ to her to let him know that she was hurting about something. But now he was here begging her to come to him and she rather liked the idea. "I'll try," she agreed, "but silence on my part is going to be a hard habit to break."

"I know," Connor replied, his hand slipping around her shoulder, giving her a squeeze. "S'all right, Abs."

They fell silent for a little while, and then Connor suddenly stood up, reaching for her hand to pull Abby up too. "We probably shouldn't hang out on the floor under the sink for too long," he said, "And while I still think you're gorgeous, if you don't want to advertise to the rest of the team that you've been crying you may want to fix your makeup."

Abby smiled at him appreciately as she stood, "Thanks, and you're right, I don't feel like getting caught crying under the sink, but Connor, I think I'm gonna head home. After this I have a lot of thinking to do and my mind isn't on work at all, to the point where there's no point in me being here and should an anomaly occur I'd be a hazard. Come with me? We definitely have to have a talk, don't you think? And I'll fix you up an ice pack for that jaw."

Connor nodded. He wasn't quite sure what else there was to talk about, but his jaw _was _sore and she was still holding his hand, and it's not like he would ever say no to her.

* * *

Connor was quiet as Abby handed him a cup of tea and gently examined his jaw before handing him an ice pack. It was Abby who had said they had more to talk about and he wasn't sure the subject yet so he figured maybe he'd better wait for her to initiate the conversation.

For the moment she was silent and obviously still lost in thought, but suddenly she plonked herself down on the couch beside him and said, "Connor, what are we?"

Connor hesitated, hoping she'd elaborate if he didn't answer right away so that he had some sort of clue what she meant. When she didn't, he opted to push the matter by responding teasingly, "Human. Or at least I am, but maybe you're about to reveal that you're really some sort of elvish-fairy or something in secret. I mean after the anomalies I'd say anything is possible. If you tell me that, Abs, I'd believe you."

Abby chuckled and gave him a playful shove, "You'd love that, wouldn't you? Well, Connor, I hope you aren't too disappointed but I'm human too, sorry. Not _quite _what I meant though."

"Maybe not, but it's definitely what you asked," he pointed out, "And to be a hundred percent truthful with you Abby, I'm not quite sure what you _did _mean."

Abby shook her head, a soft smile playing around her lips. "You're clueless sometimes, you know that, right? I meant what are we to _each other, _of course. We mean more to each other than coworkers, obviously. You didn't do everything you did today just for a coworker. I mean, punching the guy maybe, people might do that for someone they barely know, but the sticking around under the sink and chatting stuff… nah, that's not just one coworker to another."

"Abby, we _live _together."

"I know, so what are we? Friends? Roommates? Surrogate Siblings? Boyfriend/Girlfriend? Best friends? Which is it? I feel like we're always together, we'd do anything for each other, but we have to decide because if we're not on the same page we can really mess this up for ourselves and I don't want to do that; I need you, today proved that to me."

Connor was staring at her though, his eyes noticeably widening in surprise at option number four and the fact that Abby had suggested it as an option at all. "You're asking _me?" _He managed after a few moments. "This is_ my_ choice?"

Abby hesitated and then nodded, "Yeah. Yeah it is Connor because I-I love you and I want us to be the best we can be together and…"

Connor moved forward suddenly and quickly, causing Abby to stop talking in surprise as he brushed his lips against hers, not quite kissing her but his intentions beyond obvious. He didn't move as he whispered, "Are you _sure,_ Abs? One hundred percent _certain_ I get to pick? Because I know you know what I would choose."

"I'm sure," she whispered back.

And so he kissed her.


End file.
